Surface attached lighting equipment



June 28, 1949. K. FRANCK ET AL 2,474,308

SURFACE ATTACHED LIGHTING EQUIPMENT Filed Nov. 29, 1946 2 Sheets-Shget 1 Ti .IL.

ATTORNEY June 28, ,1949. F NCK T AL 2,474,308

SURFACE ATTACHED LIGHTING EQUIPMENT Filed Nov. 29, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS kuerF/mlvcx 9,,

ATTORNEY Patented June 28, 1949 Kurt Franck andVearl assignors to Holopha York, N..Y., a corpora Application November; 29, 1946, SerialNo.

S. Wince, Newark, Ohio, ne Company, Inc., New tion-of Delaware The present invention relates to surface attached lighting equipment and is more particularly directed toward totallyenclosed fluorescent lighting equipment arranged for-both direct; and indirect lighting.

The present invention contemplates a totally enclosed fluorescent lighting unit adapted for mounting close to the ceiling; or on a suitable suspension, and provided withlight'transmitting elements both above andbelowthe fluorescent lamps, the upper elements being arranged to permit some light to escape toward the ceiling and the lower elementsbeing arranged to transmit direct light from the lamps as well as transmit downwardly, light reflected" about inside the enclosure.

According to the present invention the entire lighting unit except for the light transmitting elements and electrical parts, isa. complete fabricated unit Which-is arrangedto-receive the electrical parts as well as the light transmitting parts, usually glassparts may be readily shiftedinpositionto permit lamp renewal and. may be readily removed to permit cleaning.

A further object of the invention is to so arrange the parts or the lighting unitthat it can be readily mounted againstthe ceiling surface to avoid spacing the fixturebelow. the ceiling.

Other and further-"objects willappear as the description proceeds;

The accompanying drawings show,. for purposes of' illustrating the present invention, an embodiment in which the invention; may, take form, it being understood-that the: drawings areillustrative of the invention rather thanlimiting the same.

In these drawings:

Figure l. is a lighting unit;

Figure 2 is an exploded view of the non-electrical and non-light controlling. structure em ployed in they lightingunit;

Figure 3 is a. transverse sectional view taken n.the line 3'3 of Figures;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;. and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the lighting unit.

The drawings illustrate a type of lighting unit plurality of 48inch fluorescent of the fixture will; of course,

designed to use a lamps. The. size bealtered where. diameter are,to be employed;

Inthedrawingseach lighting unitis shown as These light transmitting,

perspective vveiw of the complete lamps or different length or 7. bent; ends 29 nd corners l8-l8. of theing. It is also provided-with holes l2 by which it may be secured to pendent rods. The mount.- ing strap ll] carries pairs. of bolts l3-l3' preferably welded to.

The body of the lighting fixture employs. a sheet. metal wireway l5 preferably of uniform cross-section throughout its length. It has side walls l5ll5, lower outwardly extending flanges l-l ll; and the upper mid-section. is depressed as indicated at H'. so that the. mounting. strap lllmay be accommodated below the level of the upper corners l'8.'-l8 of the. wireway. This wireway has access openings l9 adaptedto be closed by plates Zll. The wireway is provided with holes.

2: spaced the. same as the The wireway is stiffened by strap members 22 having lower ends 23-23 Welded to the sides of the wireway, and mid-portions 24-.adapted' to. fit under the depressed portion ll of the wireway. These mid-portions are. channel shaped. (as indicated in the drawings) for stiffness, and have holes 25 to register with the holes 2'! Wing nuts 25. threaded. on the; bolts l3 make it possible to secure the wireway and the mounting strap together.

Brackets 21 are flanges. l1 l1.

bolts f3;

Welded to the ends of the These. brackets. have inwardly indicated at 3.9. 3i are received Lampv socket supporting boxes between the brackets 2i and held in place by sheet metal screws 32' passed throughthe holes and'threadedinto holes 33 in, the sides of the boxes. 3|. These boxes are notched as indicated att l'for lamp sockets and one. of the boxes is provided with holes 35 for the lamp starters. The boxes 3| haveinwardly extending, elevated flanges 31' provided with downwardly extending welded bolts 38. These bolts support a removable cover 39 by means of nuts 39..

End plates 40. are secured to the wireway. These end plates have a continuous peripheral flange indicatedgenerally by the reference character M. The portions 4-la4la or the flange M fit the sides Iii-l6 of the wireway at the ends of the wireway and are welded to the wireway. The portion slb of'the'fiange receives the upper wireway'and' finishes off 1s providedwith four. anchorage.

it. and slightlylonger than the. depth. of the sides l t-- 14" of; the. mounting strap...

are provided with a screw hole,

the end of the fixture opposite the depressed portion of the wireway all the way up to the ceiling line C. The lower portion of the end plate 49 is considerably wider than the upper portion. The widest part of the end plate supports longitudinal members 42 and 43 which are welded together and whose ends are welded inside the portion tlc of the flange. Supporting straps M are welded to the wiring channel and to the longitudinal members 43 so as to support the members 42, 43 at the center of the fixture. The members 4-2, 43 tie the end plates together and provide supports for the glassware to be described.

The usual ballast 5|! is secured inside the wireway and connected by the usual wiring, not shown, to the lamp sockets 5| and starters 52 in a well known manner. Lamps 53 are carried in the sockets and as is apparent in the drawings are spaced some distance below the cover plate 39. This plate is painted white and is shaped to facilitate escape of light upwardly of the lamps.

The upper light transmitting members are indicated at 54-54. These members are prefer ably oi the contour indicated and preferably have internal light retracting prisms indicated at 55 and external totally reflecting prisms indicated at 56, as more fully described and claimed in application for Letters Patent of Vearl S. Wince Serial No. 713,125, filed concurrently herewith.

The lower edges of two light transmitting members 54 rest on each of the upper inwardly directed flanges 51 of the longitudinal member 43 and behind the upwardly extending stop elements 58-58 of the corresponding longitudinally extending member 42. The upper edges of the light transmitting elements 54 rest on the flanges l'l-li of the wireway. The over all length of the light transmitting members 55 on each side of the unit is slightly less than the over all length of the fixture between end plates so that when the adjacent ends 54a of two such light transmitting members are butted together as illustrated in the dra 'ngs, the outer ends 541) of the light transmitting members 54 are received under the portions Md of the end flanges M, as indicated more clearly in Figure 5 so as to cover the same. The adjacent ends of the upper light transmitting members are held in place by removable clips indicated at 59.

The bottom or the fixture is preferably closed on by four light transmitting plates EB having the contour indicated and provided with light controlling prisms for diverting the light toward the nadir, They rest on flanges 61 along the edges of members 42. The end ones extend above the bottom flanges Me of the end plates.

It will be noted that the wireway and parts carried thereby are in the form of a welded assemblage which is strong, rugged and suitable for mounting either close to the ceiling or on pendent supports. The units may be mounted in such a way as to be end to end, and wiring carried from one fixture to the next through suitable knockouts as illustrated at MT in Figures 1 and 2. Access to the starters may readily be had by lifting one of the lower plates 6!! and sliding it over an adjacent plate as indicated by the dot and dash lines 6!! in Figures 3 and a. The lower light transmitting members may be removed by shifting one of the center lens plates side ways to permit lowering one side below the supporting flange, and then removing it. Then mOVe the end lens plate slightly inward lengthwise and then remove them in the same way.

From the light controlling point of view the light received by the light transmitting members 54 and 60 can be diverted into desired directions by suitable prismatic constructions and the fixture is at all times kept completely closed to avoid accumulation of dust inside the fixture.

Since it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in other forms and constructions within the scope of the claims, we wish it to be understood that the particular form shown is but one of these forms, and various modifications and changes being possible, we do not otherwise limit ourselves in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. Fluorescent lighting equipment for direct and indirect lighting, comprising a fluorescent lamp ballast, an elongated body receiving the ballast and wiring and having longitudinally extending outwardly directed flanges along its lower edges at substantially the level of the bottom of the ballast, a bottom cover for the wireway, lamp sockets supported by the body at its ends, lamps in the sockets and at a level below the bottom cover and flanges, end plates carried by the body outside the sockets, the end plates extending below the lamps and their lower portions being substantially wider than the width of the space occupied by the lamps, longitudinal members interconnecting the end plates and disposed at a level slightly below that of the lamps, the upper portions of the longitudinal members having inwardly directed flanges and upwardly directed stops outside of and above the flanges, and light transmitting plates resting on the body flanges, the upper inwardly directed flanges and behind the stops.

2. Lighting equipment as claimed in claim 1, having supports interconnecting the body and the longitudinal members intermediate their ends and disposed within the plates.

3. Lighting equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light transmitting plates are in sections, the over all length of which is less than the spacing of the end plates, and the end plates have inwardly extending flanges to receive the remote ends of the abutting sections adjacent thereto.

a. Lighting equipment as claimed in claim wherein the longitudinal members have lower inwardly extending flanges, and having lower light transmitting plates supported on the lower flanges so that the lamps are totally enclosed.

5. Lighting equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the longitudinal members have lower inwardly extending flanges and having lower light transmitting plates supported on the lower flanges so that the lamps are totally enclosed, the lower light transmitting plates being in sections, the lower inwardly directed flanges being sufiiciently spaced below the upper flanges to accommodate two sections one on top of the other.

6. In fluorescent lighting equipment, a mounting strap in the form of a channel adapted to be secured immediately below the ceiling line. a downwardly opening wirng channel longer and wider than the mounting strap and having sides and a top, the top being end an amount greater than the depth of the channel to accommodate the mounting strap so that the channel sides may extend up past the depressed from end tosides of the channel, the mounting strap having mounting bolts extending down through the top wireway without passing them through the mounting strap, and wiring channel supporting nuts carried by the bolts so that the wiring channel may be clamped against the ceiling.

the bottoms of the boxes, the

of the stifiening straps and their ends flanges of the end KURT FRANCK. VEARL S. WINCE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

